Sprint's Morbid Super Bowl Ad Shows the Great Lengths People Will Go to Split With Verizon

Ad Is First Work out of New Agency Droga5 New York

By Lindsay Stein.Published on Feb 01, 2017

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In its first creative work from Droga5, Sprint humorously highlights just how far customers will go to get out of their Verizon contracts.

The 30-second spot, entitled "Car" and directed by Smuggler's Randy Krallman, opens on the oddly plastic face of a man behind the wheel of his car. It then cuts to the same man, looking a bit more human, pushing the car off of a cliff, followed by telling his children, "Well, kids, Daddy's dead."

Sprint customer (and former Verizon spokesman) Paul Marcarelli sees the exchange and says to the father, "Let me guess. Faking your own death to get out of your Verizon contact? You could've just switched to Sprint."

The ad will run in the second quarter of the Super Bowl. While the 30-second video is currently available on YouTube, Sprint plans on releasing an alternate version of it following the big game. A 45-second version of "Car" will also be posted online this week.

This is Sprint's first work from Droga5, which was hired as agency of record in November, putting an end to the company's two-year relationship with Deutsch. Sprint is currently reviewing its media-planning and -buying business, which has been held by Mediavest since 2011.

The wireless carrier last ran a commercial in the Super Bowl in 2015, when it "apologized" to Verizon and AT&T.